Hope the cooking is going well! Looks like we have quite a few participants this year and a lot of tasty games on the burners.

I've posted the submissions guidelines, since I know a few chefs have other commitments this coming weekend and need to submit their games early. However, there's no need to rush. If your game isn't done yet, definitely take the time to finish. On the other hand, let this be a warning and the time to make major decisions if you still need to make them. Scrap things that aren't working and that you won't be able to finish in time. Focus on what you've got, what works, and the core concepts behind your game. Make sure the basics are solid.

You've done a lot of hard work. I know because I've seen signs all over the internet and know there's a bunch of you laboring quietly on your own.

Now's the time to push through to the home stretch and make something you can turn in. It doesn't have to be perfect; it doesn't have to be pretty; it just has to be done (for now). And, believe me, turning something in, even if it doesn't end up being a Finalist, is a major accomplishment and something you should feel good about.

You may be tired and a bit burnt out at this point. But you can do it. You're almost there. Do whatever you need to do. In the words of the immortal Tim Gunn: MAKE IT WORK.

I'm hoping we're not going to have to delay the playoffs and will do my best to get through them all by the first week in October.

Some folks have been asking about whether playing your own game counts for the playoffs. Of course it does! Please, play your games! More details about the playoffs will be posted as I get closer to having all the games through their initial review. There may even be a "best game that Jonathan overlooked" category, where we see which non-Finalist game sees the most play or has the most write-in votes.

I'm hoping we're not going to have to delay the playoffs and will do my best to get through them all by the first week in October.

I think it's safe to say that, with 46 reviews yet to be posted, that dream has died. Not that I blame you -- it was a pretty tall order to begin with. Any new estimates on when we'll get our list of finalists?

I'm new here, this is my first Game Chef, and I'm not really versed in the local code of conduct, so I apologize if I'm out of line.

Assumption #1. The ingredients and the whole competition thing are there, among other things, to create a deadline (deadlines increase productivity) and to provide inspiration. All in order to produce in a week what normally (in the everyday lazy mode) takes a month to create - a workable first draft of a game. 59 of them, to be exact.

But it's still a contest, right? I mean, you can't just say "Yeah, sure, it's a <airquotes>contest</airquotes>, but since the deadline was there only as an illusion and a source of psychological tension, you can just relax. Being a finalist doesn't really matter anyway." Because does. I don't have a naturally competitive personality, but when I choose to participate in what was announced as a competition, I automatically switch into a competitive mode. Winning suddenly matters. Creating a game is cool and extremely gratifying but I won't get closure until the competition is resolved, one way or the other.

Assumption #2. When people enter a contest they 1) expect it to have a winner and 2) hope to win themselves. The more the judging process stretched, the more anxious the participants feel, until the pressure becomes too tiring and people just don't care anymore.

So, here's what I don't get. Is it OK for the one and only judge to just disappear? I mean, how hard can it be to pop in and say "Ooops, guys, grad school, I'll be away until October 16th" or something. I know many people might say that Jonathan has it hard enough as it is, with such a huge responsibility on his shoulders, and how it's not his job and he doesn't owe anyone anything. But I think he does. And it kinda is his job, or it became his job when he has willingly decided to host Game Chef. Since we're all gamers here, I daresay he entered into a social contract with all 59 of us. "You guys try to do your best and meet the deadline, I choose finalists and review all the entries in a timely fashion." By the end of September, I assume, since the playoffs were supposed to end by November.

Am I wrong? Am I the only one who cares so much? Trust me, I don't enjoy the tension. Is it me, taking this too seriously, or Jonathan, not taking this seriously enough? He was the host of Game Chef 2009, right? The one with no winner. And wasn't it grad school overlapping with the contest that prevented him to close the contest properly?

Maybe it's not customary here to make any demands on the judge, and I should just be grateful that Game Chef exists at all, and that Jonathan agreed to host it. I am. Grateful. God forbid, maybe something serious has happened in his life, and I'm bashing a man who genuinely has more pressing concerns.